No Force First in adult mental health services

17/06/2016 by Amy Gaskin-Williams

The ‘No Force First’ project, which spans services across the Trust, aims to encourage a culture which sees force and restraint as an absolute last resort, and rather nurtures relationships which are supportive and prevent escalation.

While many services across the Trust have been working on reducing restraint and restriction, Adult Mental Health services have partnered with Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust, a specialist mental health, learning disability and substance misuse Trust in the North West, to review their practice and consider how to implement new approaches on the wards. The new approaches will aim to help service users identify their triggers and help staff to support them to calm and find alternative means to communicate their frustrations.

This is a good example of services putting service users first, and listening to their feedback to understand how to better support them and improve their experience being on our wards.